Beet-lifter.



A. BOURDEAU.

BEET LIFTER. 7 APPLICATION FILED AUG. 10, 1909.

Patented Apr. 12,1910.

WITNESSES:

' INVENTOR ,M/M BY ATTORNEY ANDREW a. GRAHAM c0. Pncm-uwusmwzss.WASHINGTON c UN ITED STATES PATEN FTCE.

BERT-LIFTER.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ALBERT BOURDEAU, a subject of the King of GreatBritain, residing at Linwood, in the county of Bay and State ofMichigan, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inBeet-Lifters; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear,and exact description of the invention, such as will enable othersskilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My invention relates to root lifters for beets, chicory, turnips, andthe like.

One object of my invention is the provision of a light, strong,inexpensive and highly efficient device of this character, which willraise sugar beets from the ground with ease and despatch.

Another object of my invention is the provision of a lifter which isadjustable laterally for different sizes of beets. It frequently happensthat by reason of better attention, soil, or more favorable conditions,beets in one field will grow to be larger than those in another field.It is also desirable not to injure the beets when raising them, and forthis reason I have provided a lateral adjustment which will permit thelifting fingers to be spread apart or brought together when desired.

Another object of my invention is the provision of a light, yet strongand thoroughly braced beam, to which the lifting members are adjustablysecured.

A still further object of my invention is the provision of means forpreventing the beet when lifted, from falling into the furrow when itleaves the lifting fingers.

To these and other ends, therefore, my invention consists in certainnovel features and combinations, such as will be more fully describedhereinafter and particularly pointed out in the claims.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a top plan view of my invention, Fig. 2 isa side view, Fig. 3 is a View showing the lifting members taken on theline a:m of Fig. 2, Fig. at is a detail perspective view of the liftingmembers, and Fig. 5 is a detail view showing the means for bracing thehandles.

A indicates a bifurcated horizontal beam, the forward end of which isprovided with Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed August 10, 1909.

Patented Apr. 12, 1910.

Serial No. 512,271.

an eye 1, from which the bifurcations constituting the beam extend. Thefree ends of the bifurcations are bent inwardly toward each other, asshown at2, and overlap. The beam may be resilient, whereby the normaltendency of the bifurcations is to spread apart as shown in dotted linesin Fig. 1, the bifurcations having secured thereto the lifting membershereinafter described.

The inwardly extending overlapping rear ends 2 of the bifurcations areheld in adjusted position by means of the clamping members 3, 3, similarto the clamping means shown in Fig. 3, such clamping members 3, 3, alsoembracing the bend of a substantially V-shaped member l, constitutingthe handles. The arms. l, 4, of the V-shaped member extend upward at anangle from the beam A in the usual manner and are connected to the beamin front of the lifting members by means of braces 5, 5, the upper endsof which are secured to the handles by means of a through-bolt 6,extending between and connecting the handles at points intermediate theends thereof. The opposite ends of the braces 5 are bent laterally andreceived in apertures in the bifurcations, the ends of the braces beingheld in place by nuts 5 securing the forward ends of the braces to thebeam in front of the lifting members, the latter may easily be caused torise out of the ground when desired.

In order to further brace the handles, I provide the cross-round 7, theopposite ends of which are received in recesses formed in the innerfaces of the handles 4:- Preferably I construct such handles of pipe, inwhich event, the ends of the cross-round 7 are received in aperturesformed on the inner faces of the handles so that the ends of such roundbear against the interior peripheries of the respective handles and theround is held in such position by means of the nuts 8, 8, on thethroughbolt 6, which operate to pull the handles together.

A clevis 9 is secured to the eye 1. of the beam, such clevis beingprovided with a pair of apertured arms 10, 10, adapted to embrace theeye and receive a bolt or pin 11 passing through the eye and the arms.The forward ends of the lifting fingers may be caused to pick into thesoil by hitching the draft animal to the upper one of the series ofperforations 12 formed in the clevis, or if it is desired to impart atendency to the fingers to lift out. of the ground, the draft should beconnected to the lower apertures 12.

The lifting members are arranged as follows: A pair of substantiallyU-shaped standards 13, 13 are provided, the upper ends or tangs 14L ofwhich extend vertically and are parallel with each other. These tangsoverlap the sides of the beam A and prefer ably extend at right anglesthereto, the tangs being releasably and adjustably secured to the beamintermediate its ends by means of the clamps 15, 15. These clamps arearranged obliquely across the sides of the frame and the tangsrespectively, as shown most clearly in Figs. 2 and 4.. By loosening theclamps, the lifting fingers may be given more or less inclinationforward or rearward, one forward adjustment being shown in dotted linesin Fig. 2. The forward edges 16 of the convex portions of the standardsare preferably sharpened in order to cut through the soil. The lowerfree ends of the standards are bent inwardly toward each other in orderto cut horizontally through the soil and the outlying roots of the beetsor other vegetables being lifted, the extreme points of the inner endsof the standards being spaced apart in order not to injure the main ortap root.

The lifting fingers 17, 17 are secured to the lower inwardly projectingends of the standards. These fingers are angular in generalconformation, and are preferably formed of cylindrical rods, the forwardends of which may be pointed as at 18. The for ward portions of thefingers lie substantially horizontally, the rear portions of the fingersbeing bent upwardly at an angle to the forward portions. The fingersconverge toward each other from front to back, as shown in Fig. 1. Inoperation, the substantially horizontal forward portions of the liftingfingers ride in the ground and are adapted to pass on each side of andengage the root to be lifted, and, as the implement. continues totravel, the root engages the rearward upwardly inclined portions of thelifting fingers and is thereby raised out of the ground.

It will be observed that the root is held between the lifting fingersand if the rearward portions of the lifting fingers were of the samelength, the root would ride over such rear ends and drop back into thefurrow caused by the passage of the machine through the field. Thismight result in a considerable loss, either because the lifted rootswould become covered with loose earth or from stepping on them. In orderto obviate this liability, I preferably make the rearward portion of thelifting finger 17 of greater length than the rearward portion of thefinger 17 so as to project higher out of the ground than finger 17,whereby, as the beet rides up the incline between the fingers, it iscaused to fall laterally toward and past the shorter finger 17 andescapes the furrow.

The standards 13 are preferably resilient and the tangs are connectedbelow the point of connection with the beam, by means of a U-shapedstrap 18 passing around one tang and the free ends of which strapembrace the other tang and are connected by a bar 19 held in place bymeans of the nuts 20. The normal tendency of the standards isto springapart from each other, the strap 18 holding them together, and byloosening or tightening the nuts 20, the fingers 17, 17 are caused toapproach or recede from each other, as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 3.

In order to thoroughly brace the standards and prevent them fromswinging backward as they cut through the soil, I provide the braces 21extending from the sides A to the convex portions of the standards, suchbraces being adjustable by means of the turn buckles 22 to permit theforward or backward adjustment of the standards, as indicated in Fig. 2.In Figs. 3 and 4:, the braces 21 have been omitted for the sake ofclearness.

From the foregoing it will be observed that I have provided averysimple, neat, and inexpensive lifter, yet one which is very strong,durable and efficient. The machine can be drawn by one horse, and thelifting fingers extend to about four or five inches beneath the surfaceof the ground.

The sides of the beam may be spread apart to effect an additionaladjustment of the standards toward and from each other, by releasing theclamping members 3, 3, and spreading the sides apart or drawing themtogether.

The beets may be topped before or after they are lifted, though I preferto top them with a hoe before they are lifted.

Having thus fully disclosed my invention, what I claim as new, is

1. A root lifter comprising a beam, resilient standards dependingtherefrom, lifting members carried by the standards, the forwardportions of such members lying substantially horizontally, the rearwardportions extending at an incline upwardly, the rearward upwardlyinclined portion of one member projecting higher than the upwardlyinclined portion of the remaining member, a U -shaped strao embracingthe standards, and a bar connecting the ends of the strap and adjustablethereon to permit the stand ards to be adjusted toward and from eachother, and means for adjusting said standards forward and backward.

2. In a root lifter having a beam and standards depending therefrom,angular lifting members carried by the standards, the forward portionsof such members lying substantially horizontally, the rearward portionsextending at an incline upwardly, the rearward upwardly inclinedportions of one of the lifting members being longer than and projectinghigher than the upwardly inclined portion of the remaining member.

In testimony whereof, I aflix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

ALBERT BOURDEAU. Witnesses:

PITE LATOU'RNEAU, FRED LATOU'RNEAU.

